Staff Reports
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas will not run for president in the 2024 election cycle, despite long being thought of as a prospective Republican candidate in the next White House contest.
Sources in the senator's political sphere told Fox News on Sunday that Cotton, a rising star in the GOP and combat veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been reaching out to donors, friends, and aides in recent days to let them know that he won't run for president. Politico was the first to break the story.
According to the sources, Cotton informed fundraisers and supporters that his family had a significant role in his choice. The 45-year-old senator is married to Anna, and together they have two young sons, ages five and seven.
In the last 18 months, Cotton has crisscrossed the nation advocating for fellow Republicans running in the midterm elections, making multiple appearances in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada – the first four states to host contests in the GOP presidential nomination calendar.
The senator also had a meeting with influential funders and advisors in June at the Hay Adams Hotel in the heart of Washington, D.C. Cotton indicated he wouldn't defer to any other possible candidates, including former President Donald Trump, when it comes to his own choice to begin a national campaign, according to sources present at the meeting, which were verified to Fox News.
Fox News was informed by sources close to Trump's political circle on Friday that a possible 2024 announcement would take place the week beginning on Monday, Nov. 14, which is one week after the midterm elections.
However, the sources stress that everything is "fluid."
Politics writer Paul Steinhauser works out of New Hampshire.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Fox News.
